Hihats.

- ask away
Post Reply
AK
mnml maxi
mnml maxi
Posts: 1973
Joined: Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:01 pm
Location: Worcestershire

Hihats.

Post by AK »

After listening to some tracks, I realise I don't really pay that much attention to my hihats. I mean, they're ok in my book, not 'unhappy' with them ( I use 808 sounds, MFB sounds and synthesize my own ) but they never make me go, 'hey, I dig those hats'.

I really like music by a guy called 'cloudface'. In particular a track called, 'Otcho'. I esp. love the hats in this. They come in around 30 secs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv3Zv5t6jMs

He's got them panning around the stereo field and there's sh!t loads of distortion overdrive in his tracks so I'm not sure if that plays a part but any ideas on how to create a similar vibe with hats? I use choke groups, so each hat cuts the other out etc but my transients are always a little hard and I can't tell here whether an automated hp filter is used ( not tried that myself yet )

I'm not sure what drum machine he uses but damn, I love those hats. Any ideas for processing hats would be cool. I've been trying to make mine subtle, less aggressive transient - wise and more softer if that makes sense? The track I linked to is a prime example.
noooo
mnml newbie
mnml newbie
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:34 am

Re: Hihats.

Post by noooo »

To me the slightly longer hats in that track seem like the tail from a ride pitched up. I'd say push the attack to soften the transient. EQ to take off the bottom end... some saturation and then velocity editing to get the groove. The other hat seems like an analog hat, slight bit of reverb and lowered in the mix and again velocity editing to help with the groove.
mantik
mnml newbie
mnml newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 9:23 am

Re: Hihats.

Post by mantik »

what do you love about this hats? the sound design or the pattern?

they indeed sound a little bit special, but also from a pure dancefloor perspective it does not matter if this pattern is played with this special sound or a generic 808 cl-hat. And I have no idea, where this hats have been oscillated. the difference between them and an 808 when it comes down to functionality is very narrow, especially on a club PA-system. so what in my opinion really counts is the presented pattern, including the modulations. what I can hear is:

- most 1/16 gets hit by a very short CL, just the transient like a "click". sounds like the VOL/AMP decay is reduced to almost zero.
- some notes have a longer decay, in fact all the 1/16 notes play either this or the short decay hat. so every note gets played.
- i feel like there is a little shuffling (every second 1/16 note a little delayed)
- there is a little play with the velocity -> volume/amp
- the longer decays are also modulated in decay time
- they are support with a white noise pad (or a subtile release of the osc) - the same could be done with a reverb, but it does not matter much for the groove) because the track is very minimal, such subtile pads need to fill the space.

because the transients sound a little different with each note, this indicates that the hats are synthesized non-digitaly. but this can also be done with a phaser on a sample.

My conclusion is that the key here is the modulated decay and amp-velocity. Also the always played 1/16 "clicks" give the groove a great fallback-rythm.

Anyways from my perspective and this does not count only for hihats, modulation is the general rule for producing all kind of drums. especially in electronic music where everything is dead sterile.
Post Reply